Nuggets take advantage of ailing Knicks in blowout victory

DENVER -- His return to Denver having gone so awry, Carmelo Anthony is returning to New York to get his ailing right knee drained.

"I just didn't have it. I tried," Anthony said after scoring just nine points before leaving early in the third quarter of the New York Knicks' 117-94 blowout loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night.

It was Anthony's first game at the Pepsi Center since he demanded a trade to New York more than two years ago, leading to a blockbuster deal that reshaped both franchises.

With the crowd jeering him and his knee barking at him, Anthony had one of his worst games ever at the Pepsi Center, his home for the first eight seasons of his NBA career.

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Wilson Chandler scored 24 points and the Nuggets led by as many as 34 points on the way to winning their 10th straight game and 14th straight at home.

This one was such a laugher that their starters didn't play the fourth quarter.

Neither did Anthony, who was 3-of-12 shooting when he left a couple of minutes into the second half.

The crowd that mostly jeered him chanted derisively, "Where is Melo?" throughout the fourth quarter.

Not on the court and not even on the bench.

By game's end, the chant had morphed into, "Who needs Melo?"

The Nuggets raced out to a 64-42 halftime lead with Anthony in New York's lineup and stretched it to 97-69 after three quarters with him in the visiting locker room.

Iman Shumpert led New York with 20 points, but the Knicks were manhandled on the boards 53-33 and outscored 62-24 in the paint.

"I like my team, and I'm proud of it," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "Not a lot of those guys were here for the drama that went on here, and to play with that much pride tonight I thought was first class."

The Nuggets used a 21-1 run to drain the drama from this game midway through the second quarter when New York went almost 7½ minutes between buckets, falling behind 54-31.

"They couldn't score and we ran by them on almost every possession," Karl said. "It was a great energy, the building had an electricity to it. I think our team was at playoff intensity mode. I also think we caught New York in a bad place. Sometimes that happens."

The Knicks trailed 58-28 when they lost Tyson Chandler for the night with a bruised left knee after he slammed into Corey Brewer under the basket and had to be helped to the locker room.

Anthony received a mixed but decidedly strong reception during pregame introductions -- when the public address announcer accidentally presented him as No. 15, his number during his eight seasons in Denver, and not his current No. 7.

Masai Ujiri, the Nuggets' executive vice president who famously said on the night of the trade, "We got killed," called the deal a win-win Wednesday and said there were no residual hard feelings.

"Honestly, we've moved on," Ujiri told The Associated Press. "Melo was great, great kid, just saw him at half court and spent some time [with him]. I think it worked out for everybody. The Nuggets, as an organization, has moved on and Melo has moved on."

Asked if they were better without him than they were with him, Ujiri demurred,
"I can't answer that question. It's a tough one."

During the first timeout, there was a video tribute to them accompanied by John Sebastian's iconic "Welcome Back" song.

That turned out to be the highlight of the night for the former Nuggets.

Anthony waxed nostalgic about his return after practice Tuesday night, but he hardly recognized the team he left -- and not just because they were decked out in their new canary yellow uniforms. Lawson is the only Nuggets player who was teammates with Anthony 25 months ago, but 10 other Nuggets can trace their arrival to Anthony's departure from Denver.

Although there was plenty of animosity when the deal went down Feb. 22, 2011, time has smoothed things over. The Nuggets landed a bevy of young players, trade exemptions and draft picks they've used to retool their roster, and the Knicks got a bona-fide superstar to build a team around.

The resurgent Knicks (38-24) are still leading the Atlantic Division. The Nuggets (44-22) are in the hunt for home-court advantage in the playoffs.

Karl said he was glad this game had finally come and gone.

"Yeah, I think it's time to let everything go and it was probably too long in getting it here," he said.

Game notes

Danilo Gallinari hit his 500th career 3-pointer. The Nuggets have won 32 of their past 42 games. Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Tyson Chandler is probable for Thursday night's game.

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Most valuable player: Kenneth Faried's omnipresent energy -- particularly on the glass -- helped throw into high relief just how different a brand of basketball these two teams are trafficking in right now.

X factor: The Nuggets ran the Bockers ragged from the opening tip, waxing them on the glass and turning the crowd's Carmelo Anthony animosity into schadenfreude shenanigans. This team is scary, and getting scarier.

That was a nightmare: A second lopsided loss in two days, Tyson Chandler crumpling into a flesh avalanche, Melo following him to the locker room soon thereafter -- there is quite literally nothing more that could've gone wrong for the Knicks.

Research Notes

The Nuggets outscored the Knicks 62-24 in the paint Wednesday, and have outscored opponents in the paint 47 straight games. They also average a league-high paint points per game, and have only been outscored twice in the paint all season, easily better than marks my other teams.